Finally some boobie watching

I have been enjoying my trip up tyo this point but last night it really
started to click... It was that euphoric traveling feeling that had seemed
rather elusive until now. Last night i left montanita on the bus and came
to peurto lopez. the scenery has finally become more forested. The city less
crazy, and i have seen bugs!!!
My hostal, �hosteria mandala�is one of the most beautiful places i have ever
been in my entire life!
And the owners. a swiss and italian couple are amazing. When i arrived
lastnight they were full, as i was a day early in escaping the party life of
montanita, but they arranged for me to stay in a nice clean place, as i had
a reservation for the next day... I decided to stay and eat supper at the
restaurant and arranged a whate watching tour to isla la plata , thepoor
mans galapagos. Then the owners told me that since i was there guest anyway
the next night and wuld be coming back early in the morning for teh tour
that they would let me stay in the main floor appt of there own home on the
property... I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A BEAUTIFUL room in my life...
Ceilings that were about 3m. in an oval shaped room with one half with full
length windows facing the ocean, and a book shelf along the other wall.
After 2 nights slee`ping with earplugs to drown out the dance music, i slept
to the sound of the ocean crashing, and crickets singing. and awoke to the
waves again, but this time with birds singing. I ahd a nice breakfastof
museli and yogurt with fruit and hot chocolate---

I ahve become a conaiseur of the hotchocolate of Ecuador... it is always
made with boiled milk and lots of cocoa.... Forgive me if i am repeating
myself but it is amazing... the best are quite bitter and they bring you
sugar to add, which i seldom do...

AFter breakfast this morning i caught a little taxi with 4 other people from
my hostal, all from spain to the tour office. Then on to the boat--- the
boat was very clean and well maintained, and though the guides spoke little
english they spoke spanish clearly enough that i could understand most of
it. While on the way tothe island we saw more whales that i could count.
all humpbacks... very cool. on the island we had a 3-4 hour hike around the
island and saw blue footed boobies, masked boobies, frigate birds ( they are
black with a red neck that they puff out) and many others... The boobies
reminded me of a poster from my chickadee magazine when i was young... they
are fearless things.. or maybe just dumb? I also saw a few large
butterflies and some HUGE bubble bees. some black and some bright orange
with VERY yellow eyes.

After the hike we got back on the boat and headed to a little inlet where we
could snorkel... despite my stupid fear of fish and deep water I did it...
staying on theboat seemed very wrong... and once i got used to breathing
with my face in the water it was wonderful. not that many fish but a some
bight coloured ones the size of a dessert plate, or a little bigger.
Tomorrow i will go to a beach where i can do more snorkeling as it was quite
amazing. I Even did the front crawl in the water ( that was for you!) and
it was surprisingly superb with mask and snorkel. I think i shal buy one for
home.

There are also many little lizzards every where here... I have tried to
catch some but have had no luck yet... VERY FAST!

After the tour a few of the others and i stopped for a juice and supper... I
had Ceviche again... SO GOOD!!! it is seafood marinated in lemons or limes
with onions and cilantro. served withplainatin chips. Top drink i had a
�tree tomato milkshake� really good! My super companions were a couple from
the netherlands, a bird biologist and a cummuications person in vaccine and
viral infections for trhe gov�t--- there seem to be lots of traveling health
types. Myother toonew friends were a woman from the netherlands and her
local boyfriend...this seems pretty common. but the men always seem a bit
stunned... I don�t know how to explain it... I don�t think they anticipated
a long term thing with these women, but they keep coming back to visit...
who knows though maybe they are just looking confused by the language that
their partner is speaking...

During dinner a local woman came up to her boyfirend and started yelling
that she was reallyhis woman and that he should tell his white woman about
them... she seemed pretty crazy, but was saying over and over again that she
wasnot... she was showing sheila ( the dutch girl) pictures on her cell
phone--- that kind of put a lag in dinner conversation, but we recovered...

To morrow i will go on a tour of the mainland park, do some more sight
seeing, perhaps some beach--- not exactly sure will chat with the hostal
owners as they seem to know what is good to do...

Much love!

Erin